Equities end flat but Dow ekes out record in strong week
Fed's Waller flags risk of inflation going too low
FedEx falls on quarterly profit drop, forecast trim
Nike jumps after appointing new CEO
Indexes: Dow up 0.09%, S&P off 0.19%, Nasdaq off 0.36%
Updated at 4:10 p.m. ET/2010 GMT
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) -U.S. stocks closed nearly unchanged on Friday, as investors paused buying after a strong rally in the prior session that was fueled by an upsized interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve, while Nike's gains helped nudge the Dow to a record.
After notching their biggest daily percentage gains since mid-August, major averages were subdued for most of the session, but managed to secure weekly gains of at least 1%.
Stocks briefly had pared losses after comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller increased expectations the central bank will cut interest rates by 50 basis points at its November meeting, having just cut by 50 bps on Wednesday.
Fellow Governor Michelle Bowman, however, maintained that a smaller Fed cut this week would have been preferred.
"The market is still trying to recalibrate because, yes, there were some market participants that may have expected 50 basis points but a lot of people didn't," said Sid Vaidya, U.S. chief wealth strategist at TD Wealth in New York.
"You have to be a little bit more selective and measured just because we are expecting growth to slow down a little bit and valuations, especially in large-cap growth, are a bit stretched so you want to be a bit selective."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 38.17 points, or 0.09%, to 42,063.36, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 11.09 points, or 0.19%, to 5,702.55 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 65.66 points, or 0.36%, to 17,948.32.
For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.36%, the Nasdaq rose 1.49%, and the Dow climbed 1.62%.
Markets are fully pricing in a cut of at least 25 bps in November, with expectations for a cut of 50 bps given a 48.9% chance, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
Utilities .SPLRCU surged 2.69% to a record high as the best-performing of the 11 major S&P sectors, led by a 22.29% jump in Constellation Energy CEG.O shares after the company signed a data-center deal with Microsoft MSFT.O to help resurrect a unit of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.
Also supporting the Dow was Intel INTC.O, whose shares closed up 3.31% after the Wall Street Journal reported Qualcomm QCOM.O had made a takeover approach to the chipmaker.
The Fed began its monetary-easing cycle on Wednesday and projected a period of steady economic growth and low unemployment and inflation.
FedEx FDX.N plunged 15.23% after lowering its full-year revenue forecast, sending the Dow Jones Transport index .DJT down 3.53%, its biggest daily drop since late April 2023.
Nike NKE.N jumped 6.84% after saying former senior executive Elliott Hill will rejoin the company to succeed John Donahoe as CEO.
Options and futures linked to stock indexes and individual stocks were set to expire simultaneously on Friday in an event known as "triple witching," and helped lead to the heaviest trading-volume day of the year.
Historically, equities have performed well in a rate-cutting environment. However, the outlook appears bleak with the S&P 500's valuations high above its long-term average.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.87-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 32 new 52-week highs and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 114 new highs and 105 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 19.97 billion shares, compared with the 11.48-billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
S&P 500 valuation https://tmsnrt.rs/3MP0Yx0
Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Rod Nickel
Mga Kaugnay na Asset
Pinakabagong Balita
Disclaimer: Ang mga kabilang sa XM Group ay nagbibigay lang ng serbisyo sa pagpapatupad at pag-access sa aming Online Trading Facility, kung saan pinapahintulutan nito ang pagtingin at/o paggamit sa nilalaman na makikita sa website o sa pamamagitan nito, at walang layuning palitan o palawigin ito, at hindi din ito papalitan o papalawigin. Ang naturang pag-access at paggamit ay palaging alinsunod sa: (i) Mga Tuntunin at Kundisyon; (ii) Mga Babala sa Risk; at (iii) Kabuuang Disclaimer. Kaya naman ang naturang nilalaman ay ituturing na pangkalahatang impormasyon lamang. Mangyaring isaalang-alang na ang mga nilalaman ng aming Online Trading Facility ay hindi paglikom, o alok, para magsagawa ng anumang transaksyon sa mga pinansyal na market. Ang pag-trade sa alinmang pinansyal na market ay nagtataglay ng mataas na lebel ng risk sa iyong kapital.
Lahat ng materyales na nakalathala sa aming Online Trading Facility ay nakalaan para sa layuning edukasyonal/pang-impormasyon lamang at hindi naglalaman – at hindi dapat ituring bilang naglalaman – ng payo at rekomendasyon na pangpinansyal, tungkol sa buwis sa pag-i-invest, o pang-trade, o tala ng aming presyo sa pag-trade, o alok para sa, o paglikom ng, transaksyon sa alinmang pinansyal na instrument o hindi ginustong pinansyal na promosyon.
Sa anumang nilalaman na galing sa ikatlong partido, pati na ang mga nilalaman na inihanda ng XM, ang mga naturang opinyon, balita, pananaliksik, pag-analisa, presyo, ibang impormasyon o link sa ibang mga site na makikita sa website na ito ay ibibigay tulad ng nandoon, bilang pangkalahatang komentaryo sa market at hindi ito nagtataglay ng payo sa pag-i-invest. Kung ang alinmang nilalaman nito ay itinuring bilang pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, kailangan mong isaalang-alang at tanggapin na hindi ito inilaan at inihanda alinsunod sa mga legal na pangangailangan na idinisenyo para maisulong ang pagsasarili ng pananaliksik sa pag-i-invest, at dahil dito ituturing ito na komunikasyon sa marketing sa ilalim ng mga kaugnay na batas at regulasyon. Mangyaring siguruhin na nabasa at naintindihan mo ang aming Notipikasyon sa Hindi Independyenteng Pananaliksik sa Pag-i-invest at Babala sa Risk na may kinalaman sa impormasyong nakalagay sa itaas, na maa-access dito.
